Cogewea, the Half Blood: A Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle Range

By Mourning Dove

Book Overview

One of the first known novels by a Native American woman, Cogewea (1927) is the story of a half-blood girl caught between the worlds of Anglo ranchers and full-blood reservation Indians; between the craven and false-hearted easterner Alfred Densmore and James LaGrinder, a half-blood cowboy and the best rider on the Flathead; between book learning and the folk wisdom of her full-blood grandmother. The book combines authentic Indian lore with the circumstance and dialogue of a popular romance; in its language, it shows a self-taught writer attempting to come to terms with the rift between formal written style and the comfort-able rhythms and slang of familiar speech. Mourning Dove, the author of Cogewea, was an Okanogan of eastern Washington. She lived as a migrant farmworker and, after ten-hour days in the hop fields and apple orchards, faithfully returned to the battered typewriter in her tent. Lucullus Virgil McWhorter, a respected and sympathetic student of Indian lore and history, encouraged her in her ambition to be a writer; finally she made her book a record of the folklore of the Okanogan tribe, a plea for the welfare of the half-blood, and above all the testimony to her own singleminded dedication.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803281102
• ISBN13: 9780803281103
• Release Date: June 1981
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 302 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Pretty good book for one I had to read for class

I had to read this novel for a Women of the West class and I ended up enjoying the read. I would recommend the read even if you are not made to read it for a class. Give it a chance, it takes a few chapters to get into it, but I'm glad I read it.